Not On Gardnering Leave Or Looking For A New Plot

Not one of my best admittedly, but Craig Gardner is determined to stay at the club and win his place back.

Having seen himself slip below Reo-Coker in the manager's 'most likely for midfield picks' list, Craig admits opportunities to move on have presented themselves but he's confident in his ability to get back in the team.

Speaking to the Birmingham Mail he gave a quite classy 'I'm a Villa player, I'm not a quitter' speech and continued to explain that he wants to fight for his place in the squad and get back into the team, preferably in central midfield. Moving on would be the easy option and it's not for him.

Adding that whilst the team are chalking up wins he can hardly knock on the bosses door, he's just got to bide his time and take chances to impress when they materialise.

'We've been playing brilliantly, haven't we. Yes, it has been frustrating, but that's football.

'If the gaffer's including me on the bench then hopefully I'll start playing more as the season goes on.'

Perfect attitude to be honest, and Craig would probably admit that when he has been given chances of late he hasn't really set the pitch on fire and really staked a claim for a first team spot.

But he's steady and reliable, and as I think there's a great player tucked away inside him it's such a shame his progress was halted by all the 'right back' nonsense he endured.

Time will tell if he can recover from that and go on to be the attacking midfielder we saw in flashes as he came through into the first team, but as long as he keeps his head down and trains hard he's get other chances that he can leap on.

Should be a starter for every game IMO. What's the point in having a youth system if you don't use it? I'd also have Clark in ahead of Dunne at the moment until Davies is fit & Delfouneso should be making it onto the pitch before Heskey (even Harewood should though.) We've got a good youth set-up, it's about time we started tapping into it a lot more.

Should be a starter for every game IMO. What's the point in having a youth system if you don't use it? I'd also have Clark in ahead of Dunne at the moment until Davies is fit & Delfouneso should be making it onto the pitch before Heskey (even Harewood should though.) We've got a good youth set-up, it's about time we started tapping into it a lot more.